Streets, Reminds Me of You.

You. (Chapter 1)

Walking, as if nothing is around you. Looking down, seeing visibly and mentally no solution to life itself. 

Manuel jogged across the street. His tie was swaying back and forth, looking like it's about to be undone from his white collar shirt. His curly hair falling in front of his forehead, as he started running to an office building. As he ran through all of the people beside him, he grabbed his phone from his left pocket. The curly haired man turned on his phone, seeing it was 7:36 AM. Manuel was late to work.

He arrived at the office building and open the glass door. The male walked over to the blonde-hair receptionist and placed his hands on the counter. "Good morning Miss Rochelle", Manuel spoke out. "I need my- what do I nee-? Oh- I need the uh- the- the password to enter room 62 on the- the 13th floor, please." "Good morning to you too Mr. Parker. I need to see your work ID and scan it for safety purposes , sir." The curly-haired man pulled out his wallet and pulled out his work ID. He handed it to the receptionist and waited patiently as she scanned the card and typed away on the computer keyboard. "Thank you Mr. Parker, your password to enter room 62 will be on this paper", said the blonde-haired receptionist slowly and smoothly. She handed the man a printed out paper (the paper looks like a receipt) which had the numbers 340719. "Thank you very much Miss Rochelle! By the way, how in the world do you remember everybody's name in this building?", Manuel spoke out it in a higher tone as he entered an elevator. "Practice!" (Miss Rochelle said that-- to make it clear) 

The curly haired man walked over to an elevator which had vast space. He looked at his silver-toned watch on his right hand. He was quite anxious, knowing he was late to work. Manuel pressed the buttons that were on the elevator. He heard his heartbeat, it got louder and louder. The man looked up, seeing on the reflection from the elevator that his tie was loosed. He immediately fixed it as the elevator doors opened. He walked through the hallway, the carpet smelled like a new car, the walls were a snowflake (white) color. Manuel sped-walked across the empty hall. He had a weird feeling in his stomach, he didn't like it one bit. Was he really worried about work, or was this feeling caused from something different? 

Manuel stopped at a door, which read the words "62" on it. Underneath the number, was the door pad to enter the room. He noticed he lost the paper Miss Rochelle gave to him. Lucky for him, he memorized the number. The curly haired male imputed the numbers on door pad, with a click of sound, it opened. 

Slowly opening the door, he heard a familiar feminine voice shouting- "HEY- YOU'RE FINALLY HERE!"  The man walked inside the cold room. "Er- Sorry for being late. I was.. busy." A male with dirty blonde hair and blue collar sleeved shirt responded "It's okay man! Boss told us to finish the blueprints and work on the presentation." "Alright then- let's work, shall we!", spoke out Manuel mimicking what his boss says 24/7. The man greeted his colleagues with a smile and a "good morning" as he walked over to his office chair. 

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More than 8 hours have passed by. Manuel and his co-workers completed the blueprints that they have been working on for months. He was exhausted. He tilted his head up seeing that his co-workers were all worn out from the work. "So- anyone wanna go to Chipotle?" the dirty-blonde hair male commented. Everybody started to respond to the man. Echos. Voices. All Manuel heard while looking outside from the wall window. Suddenly-- "Hey! Manuel." "Uh- yes", the curly haired man stuttered. "Are you going to Chipotle with us?" "Ah- no thanks. I'm really tired right now. I should be going. Thank you for the offer, though." "Alright man, see you on Wednesday." 

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Manuel exited the the building, waving a goodbye to Miss Rochelle. He took of his tie slowly and stuffed into his right pocket. He turned on his phone and went on google to look for the next bus stop at ****** *** near Northwood street. He waited for the bus for 40 minutes- it did not arrive. The man decided to walk to his home. He put his phone in his left pocket and walked along a side walk. The streets were crowded as the male walked by. (20 minutes later) His heart started beating again as he looked across the street seeing a small store with the title, "Cap or Hat."

Manuel stood still, looking at the store. "Hey, Manny! Lets go to that store!"  He shook his head and turn around. He continued walking having a weird feeling crawling up his back again. 

He was 5 minutes away from his home until he felt a slight tap on his shoulder. He quickly turned around seeing a man with an apron on. The man spoke in an Australian accent and looked like he was in his late 40's, "Hey- is your name Manuel by any chance?" "Uh- yes.." Manuel hesitantly spoke out. "Remember me? You were my biggest customer. You and your pal used to buy my tacos every week." the man spoke. With the click of a tongue, Manuel recognized the anonymous man. "Are you- Samuel?" "Yeah, I'm glad you remember me mate. Let's go to my food truck, it's on the house." "Why thank you. I miss you man." 

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Samuel handed the man two soft-tacos with meat, beans, avocado, lettuce, cheese, and sour cream. "There you go man. It's quite nice seeing you today," the Australian man spoke out; "What happened to that er-that kid. The-your friend.-- Julio!" 

Manuel stayed silent for a couple of seconds. He had weird feeling in his stomach, again. 

He responded- "Haven't heard from him in a while." "Ah- that's a shame Manny." Manny, he remembered that name again. Why was Manuel thinking about him now? Manuel gave a weak smile to the Australian. He sat down on side walk with his legs touching the street. He slightly turned his head down. He remembered the first time he met him, more likely, Julio. 

(The next few sentences are a part of the flashback) 

The sky was clear, birds chirping, kids laughing. A small brunette with almond shaped eyes pulled Manuel's arm saying, "Hey! Lets go play with the others!" 

Tbc